Macha gets postgame grilling

The Brewers left Miller Park late Sunday with nothing to show for their weeklong homestand but a six-pack of losses. Not before manager Ken Macha was grilled on the postgame hot seat.

“When it’s all said and done, I know I’ve done the best job I can do,” Macha told reporters after the Brewers’ 4-2 loss to the Phillies. “I know I have put everything I could into this job, and that’s all I can do.”

Macha & Co. will look for better success in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Minnesota in their third three-city road trip this season. The schedule might be cause for grumbling if the Brewers weren’t so much better on the road than they are on what’s supposed to be friendly turf.

The Phillies’ sweep capped Milwaukee’s winless, six-game homestand that began with three losses to the previously-struggling Braves. The Brewers have dropped eight straight home games for the first time in 14 years, and their 4-14 record at Miller Park this season marks the poorest 18-game home start in 42 seasons as a franchise.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel remarked that, “Things are not going their way right now.”

He didn’t have to remind Macha, who faces the press twice a day and already had answered a series of questions about job security two weeks ago in Los Angeles when the Brewers were coming off three losses in four games at San Diego. He answered another wave on Sunday night.

“I think all of our coaches are going about the job in the right way. I’ll put our preparation up to anyone’s,” Macha said. “We’ve got guys out hitting extra every day. Our bullpen guys are out at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, working hard. The pitching coach is in there preparing as hard as he can every day.

“All you can do as a coach or a manager is examine yourself all the time, make sure you’re putting forth what you should be putting forth. If you have had success doing that, then you continue to do it. To all of a sudden change the way you do stuff, you’re not looking to do that. All of the guys we have in that room coaching have had success doing things and we have to fight our way through this. At the end of the day, you have to sit there and say, ‘I did things the right way.’ Really, sometimes it’s not in your hands.”

General manager Doug Melvin came to Macha’s defense in Los Angeles and third baseman Casey McGehee did the same for Macha on Sunday.

“He ain’t thrown a pitch, he ain’t hit a ball, he ain’t made an error. None of that,” McGehee said. “I think sometimes managers get too much credit and too much blame sometimes. When it ain’t going right, it ain’t going right. There’s nothing you can say or do. He’s trying to keep us all together and we’re all fighting. I think the manager’s biggest job is to make sure he’s getting effort out of his guys, and I’d be hard-pressed to find anybody that questions the effort that’s taking place out there. It might not always look pretty, it might not always go our way, but I think the way we battle says enough about the coaching staff and our manager.”

Does first baseman Prince Fielder worry that a shake-up could be coming?

“That happens at times if things aren’t going right, but that’s not something you can dwell on,” Fielder said. “That’s the business side. When you come to the field, you’re paid to play baseball. Those aren’t even my decisions anyway, so I try to stay out of that.”

Maybe getting out on the road will help. The Brewers are 11-8 away from home, tied for the most road wins in the National League.

“It’s puzzling. It doesn’t add up,” McGehee said. “There’s pressure every time you walk out on a big league field. There’s pressure to perform. There’s pressure to pick up the other 24 guys in this clubhouse. Plus the coaches. So, no, I don’t think it’s more pressure at home.

“We’ve got such great fans, it’d be great to give them something to come and yell and scream about every night. We’ve got I don’t know how many more home games, but I promise you we’re going to there eventually. It might be September, but damnit, we’re going to get there.”

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7 Comments

Off day on Monday the 24th could loom large for Macha if this trip does not produce some wins. Do you think Randolph is the obvious choice to replace him or could the organization look outside like the Royals have done with our man Ned Yost?

I wanted Macha gone last year. He just isn’t the right fit for this team. No enthusiasm or heart. Melvin is a freakin moron. Thanks for the pitching help. Davis, Parra, and Suppan? Please. Time to clean house. First people to go are Macha, Rick Peterson,(who doesn’t know a thing about pitching), Parra, Suppan, Davis, Hart. Trade all those losers to KC for Greinke. Something. Please. Can’t wait for the Packers to start!!!!

Macha let Hoffman blow another this afternoon. The guy does not know how to handle this staff. That’s 8 losses in a row and counting. How can top management let this go on. He has obviously lost the team. How can they respect any move he makes. Blown save after blown save, a different lineup every day, very frustrating……….. Doug Melvin, what are you going to do. Trackerconstruction – you got it right where’s the heart??

It does not appear that Macha shows any passion. Maybe I’m missing something being more of a NFL fan but after watching the Pittsburgh game tonight (and the last 8 games) I saw an awful performance! The pitching staff is in total disaray, too many men left on base and how many errors has this team totaled recently? Is this prepartion on a “professional” level? Time to put some “FIRE” into these Brewers!

Maybe the pitching coach should get his ticket with Macha…. OUT OF TOWN! Time for the players leaders to step up and say enough! With Braun, Fielder (wake up Prince) and McGehee, and Hart (getting hot) this team should be avg 7-8 runs a game. Too bad the BP is giving up 3.1 an inning from 6-9! And people thought this team might contend? Poor MGMT. I’d planned on going to MILW this summer on my vacation and taking in a few games, at this point I won’t waste my hard earned $ or my vacation time!

Macha is definitely not the right fit for the Brewers. Remember when the crew used to un-tuck their shirts (I know it was a Cameron thing) but there are other things they don’t do like that anymore. The Braun-Prince, one-two punch is the only thing and they do that close to the dugout so it isn’t as flagrant. When Prince came in and “knocked the guys down” last year after a homerun against St Loiuis, that was the whole team getting together and showing pasion for the game. They weren’t trying to rub it in. It was a TEAM thing. Now Macha doesn’t want that stuff. It’s immature. I don’t know about you but 22 guys running around playing a game we all played as kids can be considered immature period. The key word here is GAME. Aren’t you suppose to have fun when you play a game? Macha is trying to make bunch of (average) 25-year-olds act like 35-year-olds. This is a young team with a lot of enthusiasm…as they should. The manager should realize that and use it instead of squash it and play like mummys. Do your job and that’s it. If I were, Prince, I’d be pissed too. Now he’s up there trying too hard and swinging at bad pitches. He has plate discipline. But when you start the game thinking you need 10 runs to when, you’re gonna swing out of the zone. Now Macha’s pissed he’s swinging at pitches out of the zone. Macha is not right for the team. They need Yost back. At least he understood that it’s a young team and they need to “play”. Yost used to walk up and down the dugout talking to guys. Macha brings a folding chair to the end of the dugout and that’s his spot. Well that’s my rant on Macha. My next will be on Melvin. The worst thing that happened to the Brewers was losing Jack Z. to the Mariners. Wish he was our GM now.

My turn again. I agree with 1fan 100%. Can somebody tell Mark, (the Brewers owner), to “MAN UP” and get rid of Macha, Petersom, and Melvin!!! It’s still early in the season and Randolph would spark the team and let them have fun again. Macha expects the players to act like the geriatrics team out there. Give me a break. I play alot of ball and i’m very emotional about it. Can’t imagine playing like a zombie. That’s no fun. MACHA!!! Get the hell out of Milwaukee you loser!!! Enough already!!!!

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